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I had to change over to BBC as I can no longer even watch his speechifying.

He was on to changes in the VA, droning on about new outpatient/clinics/emergency care facilities and how the staff would be the most qualified etc. (I can't even fake how poor his language skills are)... and my first fear was, how conservative (Christian) will the facilities be forced to be, and what will that mean for our female service members and vets?

"Suggesting spurious explanations isn't relevant to my work." -- WTC Dust.
"Both cannot be simultaneously true, and so one may conclude neither is true, and if neither is true, then Apollo is fraudulent." -- Patrick1000.

Adding "cherish our history" to statement on this sent a clear message of approval to the white nationalists.

This is what I meant about nit picking every little thing he says.

It's hard to turn "cherish our history" into an approval of White Nationalism. Even the attempt costs you credibility.

Guys, it's not like he does not say enough really egregious things for you to focus on.

__________________“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that...I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” - President Donald J. Trump, January 20, 2017.
"And it's, frankly, disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it." - President Donald J. Trump, October 11, 2017.

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke appeared at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va. prior to Saturday's violent clashes, saying that the event represented fulfilling the promises of President Trump.

"This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back, we're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump, and that's what we believed in, that's why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he's going to take our country back and that's what we gotta do," Duke said.

The former KKK Grand Wizard's comments came as the protestors and counter-protestors at the racially charged event, which attracted white supremacists and neo-Nazis, clashed violently.

Duke endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential election.

Trump disavowed the white nationalist after dodging questions about the endorsement in earlier interviews.

David Duke is publicly saying that, essentially, they are simply doing Trump's work for him. So will Trump take a stand and publicly rebuke him? Will he explicitly say that he, or his agenda, has nothing to do with David Duke or his followers and others aligned with him?

His latest tweets so far have not done so.

__________________Freedom you all want, you want freedom. Why then do you haggle over a more or less? Freedom can only be the whole of freedom; a piece of freedom is not freedom. You despair of the possibility of obtaining the whole of freedom, freedom from everything - yes, you consider it insanity even to wish this? - Well, then leave off chasing after the phantom, and spend your pains on something better than the - unattainable. - Max Stirner

It's hard to turn "cherish our history" into an approval of White Nationalism. Even the attempt costs you credibility.

Guys, it's not like he does not say enough really egregious things for you to focus on.

Are you denying that as often as 45 rants and makes a big deal about saying Islamist terrorists or Muslim terrorists, it's not blatantly noticeable he can't seem to call the driver of that car that plowed into the crowd a white supremacist terrorist, or even call the vehicular event terrorism?

Even Fox News is using the term white supremacist terrorism.

And don't wast my time with the 'he's waiting for the facts' lie because that never stopped him labeling terrorist events before.

He's never going to condemn white nationalists while not under duress for the same reason he's not going to criticize Putin: he welcomes and depends on their support.

Then this is just the start................The Nazi/KKK types now think they have a wink from Trump to go after the inferior races.
The longer Trump remains in the White House, the greater the damage.
I suspect lots of shouts of RAHOWA (Racial Holy War) in the near future.
THat Trump is using racism as a political tool is clear to anybody except the die hard Trump supporters.

__________________Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty.

Are you denying that as often as 45 rants and makes a big deal about saying Islamist terrorists or Muslim terrorists, it's not blatantly noticeable he can't seem to call the driver of that car that plowed into the crowd a white supremacist terrorist, or even call the vehicular event terrorism?

Even Fox News is using the term white supremacist terrorism.

And don't wast my time with the 'he's waiting for the facts' lie because that never stopped him labeling terrorist events before.

Yep. He wants to brag about how he's not afraid to say "Radical Islamic Terrorism" and how PC thought police aren't going to stop him from saying what he wants then I won't cut him any slack on this. If Trump was the type to be cautious and diplomatic in his use of language to avoid inflaming situations that would be a different thing. But that's not who he is.

Then this is just the start................The Nazi/KKK types now think they have a wink from Trump to go after the inferior races.
The longer Trump remains in the White House, the greater the damage.
I suspect lots of shouts of RAHOWA (Racial Holy War) in the near future.
THat Trump is using racism as a political tool is clear to anybody except the die hard Trump supporters.

I don't know. On the one hand, it certainly hasn't been shy when it comes to goading North Korea into [re]starting a war, so it's certainly possible that there's a not-quite-unspoken wink to the white racist (they're not nationalists) movement, or it would make a more forceful statement. On the other hand, I don't know if the current occupant of the White House is capable of such subtlety.

The bottom line is that there's definitely a side here that is completely wrong (the white racist side), and no one occupying the Oval Office should be afraid of saying so in no uncertain terms.

Hey, if he condemned the White Nationalists, he would alienate his core supporters....
Point is, even if Trump did not intend to give an "attaboy" to the White Nationalists,the Neo Nazis and the Klansmen will interpret his failure to condemn them by name will be interpreted by them as being a wink and a nod.

__________________Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty.

Hey, if he condemned the White Nationalists, he would alienate his core supporters....
Point is, even if Trump did not intend to give an "attaboy" to the White Nationalists,the Neo Nazis and the Klansmen will interpret his failure to condemn them by name will be interpreted by them as being a wink and a nod.

I don't know. On the one hand, it certainly hasn't been shy when it comes to goading North Korea into [re]starting a war, so it's certainly possible that there's a not-quite-unspoken wink to the white racist (they're not nationalists) movement, or it would make a more forceful statement. On the other hand, I don't know if the current occupant of the White House is capable of such subtlety.

The bottom line is that there's definitely a side here that is completely wrong (the white racist side), and no one occupying the Oval Office should be afraid of saying so in no uncertain terms.

There's also the fact that he only tweets condemnations when it's Muslims that are suspected of being the terrorists. He comes out of the gate rapidly in those instances while "waiting for confirmation when the suspect is white." I don't think it's subtly he just wears his racism openly on his sleeve. He has never apologized for birther conspiracy theories, the Central Park Five, or Judge Curiel. Today's conduct is just part of a continuing patern.

There's also the fact that he only tweets condemnations when it's Muslims that are suspected of being the terrorists. He comes out of the gate rapidly in those instances while "waiting for confirmation when the suspect is white." I don't think it's subtly he just wears his racism openly on his sleeve. He has never apologized for birther conspiracy theories, the Central Park Five, or Judge Curiel. Today's conduct is just part of a continuing patern.

Well, with his approval ratings where they are, his base consists of Nazis and the products of incest.

By late Saturday afternoon, a number of prominent Republican lawmakers including Sens. Cory Gardner, Orrin Hatch, Tim Scott, and Marco Rubio, along with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers had condemned the actions of the white supremacists in far stronger language than the president.

Gardner went as far as calling the incident “domestic terrorism.”

"Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists,” Gardner tweeted from his official account.

Rubio also wrote on Twitter that it was important “for the nation to @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists."

They are fighting for Trump so why should he explicitly denounce racists, white supremacists or neo-nazis? I mean they are his people. They look up to him so of course he needs to "balance" his response.

__________________Freedom you all want, you want freedom. Why then do you haggle over a more or less? Freedom can only be the whole of freedom; a piece of freedom is not freedom. You despair of the possibility of obtaining the whole of freedom, freedom from everything - yes, you consider it insanity even to wish this? - Well, then leave off chasing after the phantom, and spend your pains on something better than the - unattainable. - Max Stirner

Good work by all of the Republican and Conservative politicians and other assorted influencers who haven't been shy about denouncing this for what it is. For social condemnation to have any real effect, it generally has to come from the people we broadly consider part of our peer group. That's why condemnation from Trump might mean something.

Good work by all of the Republican and Conservative politicians and other assorted influencers who haven't been shy about denouncing this for what it is. For social condemnation to have any real effect, it generally has to come from the people we broadly consider part of our peer group. That's why condemnation from Trump might mean something.

"I condemn White Supremacy, but vote for Trump's agenda" is the new "I send thoughts and prayers to the victim, but vote against gun safety"

There's a real danger here for Trump which is he loses so many Senate Republicans that they go off on an agenda of their own without regard to The Hair's wishes. The Senate Republicans with a few Dems can govern this country, leaving the House and The Hair as rubber stamps. That's a very weak place for a president to be.

"I condemn White Supremacy, but vote for Trump's agenda" is the new "I send thoughts and prayers to the victim, but vote against gun safety"

They approve his appointees - as I expect they would for most any Republican president - but they screw Trump in a hurry when he wants legislation they don't agree with. I guarantee the POTUS is still fuming over that Russia sanctions thing and over healthcare. I've been surprised at how little control he has over the Republicans in Congress.

It's not every presidential candidate that carried the white supremacists 100%!

__________________So Hillary sharing her email secrets with a server in her own basement was dangerous? But Trump spilling his guts to Russian agents that hold his pee pee tapes is not?http://karireport.blogspot.com/

That's my opinion. So he got his location wrong - his hate is real no matter where he learned it.

Is it just the location that he got wrong?

Still, it does matter. He's offering the story up as justification for his hate. It's meant to prove that he has a rational and grounded reason for that hate. If his story is a fabrication, he's just as irrational as he is portrayed by his ideological opponents and is now, perhaps, delusion on top of it, if not an outright liar.

We’d pull into a place like Karachi, Pakistan...the British guys came on board, because they still ran the port. The city had 10 million people at the time. We’d get out there, and 8 million of them had to be below the age of fifteen. It was an eye-opener. We’d been other places like the Philippines where there was mass poverty. But it was nothing like the Middle East. It was just a complete eye-opener. It was the other end of the earth. Link

This is from Joshua Green's book about Stevo. The British did not run the port in 1979. The population was about 5 million. Pakistan is not considered 'Middle East.' and lastly, the ship he was assigned to never "pulled into" Karachi. Bannon has probably been telling that story to right wingers for years and it probably never occurred to him that anyone would fact check it.

As Newsweek once reported,

Quote:

[C]ritics point to Breitbart headlines during Bannon’s tenure, such as “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy,” “Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew” and “Hoist It High and Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims a Glorious Heritage.” Responding to the criticism, Bannon told The Wall Street Journal that the accusations are “just nonsense.” He further told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m not a white nationalist, I’m a nationalist.” Link

Bannon refused to discuss the specifics about some of the stories Breitbart ran during the time Bannon ran Breitbart. He refuses to discuss what Breitbart's aims are, motivations, the hypocrisy of running some of the stories Breibart runs and then criticizing other media as being biased. (His pal John Carney, still at Breitbart, recently referred to Vogue magazine as being part of the "opposition media."). Instead Bannon told the Journal:

Quote:

"I pride myself in doing things that matter," he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview..."What mattered in the campaign was winning. We did." Link

That someone like this is in a position of power and influence inside the White House seems almost unbelievable.

Trump still has not thought it worthwhile to distance himself and his administrations agenda from the various far-right racist groups that openly state that their goals are the same as Trump's.

Even if he does so shortly it would seem highly insincere considering the time that has passed.

This isn't about condemning violence or hatred rather it's about publicly rebuking those that support Trump and associate themselves with him, his administration and the political agenda he campaigned on. By being silent on this matter he gives the impression that they are either right or that he's simply unwilling to alienate them.

Various far-right groups have been incredibly supportive of Trump and often glorify him publicly so this isn't just a tiny issue that he can ignore without being tainted.

__________________Freedom you all want, you want freedom. Why then do you haggle over a more or less? Freedom can only be the whole of freedom; a piece of freedom is not freedom. You despair of the possibility of obtaining the whole of freedom, freedom from everything - yes, you consider it insanity even to wish this? - Well, then leave off chasing after the phantom, and spend your pains on something better than the - unattainable. - Max Stirner

Reddit is the the fifth-most-popular website in the United States, and it is organized into subreddits, single-topic communities where like-minded users can gather by the thousands or even millions to discuss their shared interests, from news to DIY projects to grilled cheese. Among these groups is a subreddit called r/The_Donald, a 380,000-member community devoted to adoring all things Trump. As FiveThirtyEight chronicles in a new profile of the group, r/The_Donald calls President Trump its "God Emperor," "daddy," and, naturally, "Big Daddy God Emperor." This is arguably the epicenter of the president's most enthusiastic online supporters... Link

The billionaire Mercer family, especially Rebekah Mercer, have been huge financial supporters of Trump. They socialize with him. Rebekah served on Trump's transition team following the election. (She is said to have been hostile to Mitt Romney and an enthusiastic backer of Jeff Sessions.) Her father, Robert Mercer, made his fortune developing analytic software that proved very successful at predicting Wall Street trends. That's how Mercer became a billionaire. The family, a strong supporter of Breitbart and Steve Bannon, has helped finance similar analytical software for candidates. The Trump campaign became very good at targeting statements and memes to social media.

Although the Mercer's originally backed Ted Cruz, when his candidacy failed, they switched their allegiance to Trump. Reportedly they especially liked how Trump seemed to understand intuitively the importance of crafting a message that plays well on social media. This is why he focused largely on three issues during the campaign.

The Wall

The Ban

Put her in jail

The objections to this are a) it's not really a belief system so much as a path to power. The strategy is quite simple: whatever works. That seems b) Orwellian to some, more like mass manipulation than mass appeal. Trump's reliance on social media allows him to slam the news media, another popular meme.

We are at war with Eastasia. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

Even if he does so shortly it would seem highly insincere considering the time that has passed.

This is a situation where I'm fine with insincere. The ship has sailed on any prospect of Trump being a person whose character I'm going to respect. Trump still commands enormous respect among some of the uglier elements of the far right and a firm rebuke from him might still mean a little something regardless of his true motives.

Tell us again it's not about racism? Tell us again that calling them Nazi's is overboard?

Quote:

They’re apt to speak fondly of Adolf Hitler

And tell us again that Donald Trump doesn't precipitate it

Quote:

And, in the past year, Heimbach said they’ve drawn energy from a new source, from someone who has given voice to their concerns about immigrants, refugees and Muslims — President Donald Trump.

“He himself didn’t create anything,” Heimbach said of the movement. “But he did show where white politics are going in the United States.”

OK, Donald Trump. It doesn't matter whether you intended it or not, it's very clear that you are the rallying cry for the Nazi movement. Step up now and make it clear that you do not and will not condone any of this, because if you don't, you can't complain when people accuse you of supporting it. Denials won't work. These people are reading it loud and clear, so you need to change the message.

What has Mike Pence said about this? Man did he sell his soul to the devil or what?

__________________I have a permanent room at the Home for the Chronically Groovy - Floyd from the Muppets

One source said rumors of Bannon's demise have been exaggerated in the past, but that there are serious conversations happening now about whether there is a place for him in the administration going forward.

One source said rumors of Bannon's demise have been exaggerated in the past, but that there are serious conversations happening now about whether there is a place for him in the administration going forward.

The implication is that Bannon was the guy behind yesterday's statement'If Bannon did write he just did major damage to Trump.

__________________Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty.

One source said rumors of Bannon's demise have been exaggerated in the past, but that there are serious conversations happening now about whether there is a place for him in the administration going forward.